Kevin Durant rumors could pave way for beloved Sun to head back to Phoenix

The Phoenix Suns now a new head coach in The Valley, with the organization deciding on Cleveland Cavaliers' assistant Jordan Ott earlier this week. A potentially troubling addition, given his ties to Michigan State, which these days appears to be a necessary requirement from owner Mat Ishbia - himself formerly of that college - to hire you.

General Manager Brian Gregory also went there - although if you're looking for an optimistic slant here - it is that Ott is a highly thought of coach throughout the league already, and that has nothing to do with his alma mater. With Devin Booker also signing off on the hiring, the Suns will have only themselves to blame if this doesn't work out.

Kevin Durant trade could see Suns net former beloved player.

The next order of business is what to do with Kevin Durant - and the closer towards free agency and the NBA Draft we edge - the more rumors pop up regarding the 36-year-old. It was the turn of the trusted Shams Charania of ESPN to introduce a new team to the mix recently, when he surprisingly claimed that the New York Knicks attempted to trade for Durant at the deadline.

We know that this didn't happen - instead it was the Suns' desire to land Jimmy Butler that almost had Durant going to San Francisco there for a minute - but the fact this was kept under wraps for so long is both impressive and troubling. It means the Knicks were running a tight ship over there, although the firing of head coach Tom Thibodeau may just have changed that.

But it also highlights just how underwhelming the return packages for Durant will likely end up being, especially now that other franchises view him as a rental heading into 2025-26. Which is why Phoenix fans also need to prepare themselves for the very real reality that the headline player being gotten back in a package for Durant - having once given up so much for him - will be... Mikal Bridges.

It's not that Bridges the player would be a bad get for the Suns, he's actually everything that they're missing right now. An elite defender who had some literal game-winning stops in the playoffs this year, he is also a career 37.1 percent shooter from deep. He would also bring back some of the vibes that have vanished since that wonderful run to the 2021 NBA Finals.

The Knicks themselves gave up a whopping five first round picks to prise him from the Brooklyn Nets, not that the Suns will feel any better about the deal. They will be trying to re-tool around Booker - and although Bridges would be an excellent addition - if he's your second best player there's only so far you're going to go. That's even more true if Bradley Beal decides to stick around.

As it is he's generally the fourth best player the Knicks have - and on the nights when Josh Hart was bringing it with his energy - he could even have slipped lower than that. Which is just not good enough from the perspective of the Suns, with the great irony here also being that they gave up Bridges, Cameron Johnson and four unprotected firsts to acquire Durant in the first place.